BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 11, 2022

Jim Littell

Kassidy De Lapp

Taylen Collins

Oklahoma State Cowgirls

Postgame Press Conference

Baylor - 76, Oklahoma State - 36

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by Oklahoma State University. Coach Jim Littell and then we have our two student athletes, Kassidy De Lapp and Taylen Collins. Coach, your thoughts about the game?

COACH LITTELL: Well, we got punched pretty good early and didn't respond. Feel bad for our kids that we ended this way. We spent a lot of energy and emotion last night and we would have hoped -- I know all of them wanted to respond more but proud of our group and we played a lot of young kids this year.

I think a lot of them have very bright futures. We showed a lot of signs of good play at times, but there's got to be a consistency level. They will grow and get better as they move on.

Q. First for Taylen and then for Kassidy. Coach talked about the emotions of last night. How much do you feel like that maybe had to do with the way this game started? What were the emotions like after this game, as your season ends?

TAYLEN COLLINS: Like he said, it's been a hard week. Coming in, playing that first game we were all -- we all had a different fight going on about us. It was a very emotional game, and to come out with a victory last night we definitely wanted to carry it over into this game, but like he said we had that scoring brought and they got up really good in the first quarter. To have it end the way that it did we all wish it could have ended differently, it could have turned out differently, but it didn't.

KASSIDY DE LAPP: I would have to say the same thing. We all wanted that game last night. We think of that as a rival game. We were all physically and emotionally drained and it was hard to recuperate after one day so I would say Baylor had a leg up, but it's no excuse for getting punched in the mouth like that.

Like Taylen said, our shots weren't falling and we were not holding them down on defense. It was not a great start for us, and we didn't have a whole lot of fight in the beginning.

Q. You didn't score in the first quarter. How does that affect you as a player in terms of the frustration mounting, and I don't know how much you look at the scoreboard but looking up there and see a 0, how does that weigh on you mentally?

TAYLEN COLLINS: It's really draining to be putting up X amount of shots and then none of them going in, and then on the defensive end them scoring. It's kinda hard to get your -- get everybody's energy going to just keep fighting and to just not hit that wall and to keep going. It's definitely hard to see that score the way it is in the first quarter.

KASSIDY DE LAPP: It's hard not to be frustrated. You see a zero on the big screen, what are we doing? This is the Big XII Tournament. We should be better than this. It's hard to stay motivated when you feel like you've got so much to work up, like so much ground. You've got to claw your way to get back in the game with them, so I think that's what we were all thinking. Quarter one ends, how hard or, like, how willing are we to work to get back in the game.

Q. Jim, what was it like for you walking after the court after the game? What was going through your mind? What were those moments like really from the time the game ended until now?

COACH LITTELL: It was hard. You don't want to be playing like that at any time at any level. A little foggy right now. I've told some friends and all that, you know, tomorrow is first time in 45 years that I didn't know what was going to happen tomorrow. I feel like, very proud of my family. My wife has been a coach's wife for 30 years, and that's hard. Our kids grew up in Stillwater, so there are a lot of emotions running on that.

I've been blessed in my career and in my life to -- we have been two places in 31 years, and that's not common for any coach, football, basketball, anything there. Trying to look at the big picture right now and be thankful for the things that we have had.

Q. I may have missed it but specifically in the fourth quarter it didn't look like you sat town. Looked like you were standing up like you do throughout any game. Was that a case of you wanted to play it out to the end in terms of the way you coached or the way you conducted yourself?

COACH LITTELL: I have never, regardless of a score or outcome I have never sat down and quit coaching or trying to help kids, through difficult times.

It's pretty easy when you're up by 40, all that but it kind of defines you a little bit when you're down, what you're going to do, are you going to continue to coach, are your kids going to continue to fight and work?

My dad told me when I was growing up that adversity defines who you're going to be. I was going to continue to coach and that's what I prided myself on for a lot of years.

Q. Coach, as you look back at your time in Oklahoma State both as an assistant to Coach Budke and as a head coach your reflexes on that time and how much is Coach Budke on your mind as you are concluding your OSU tenure?

COACH LITTELL: This April first Coach and I walked in the doors together in 2005. So it's almost 17 years ago that we walked in the doors together. I think about him all the time. It's been my honor to try to carry on the best I can what he established and the turn-around. I choose to look at the big picture and we have had a lot of success there, NCAA Tournaments, we have had a Sweet 16, we have had a lot of really good players go through there. I think the reflection I have is my family, Stillwater, the players, The relationships and the life-long friends we have had out of those 17 years. I think that's my reflection on it.

THE MODERATOR: Okay, thank you all very much for participating.